Seaford Christmas Magic

SEAFoRd CHRiSTmAS mAGiC – A LiTTLE wiNdSwEPT BuT ENJoyEd By mANy!

Seaford Town Council hosted this year’s Seaford Christmas Magic on Saturday 4th December. High winds did mean that plans had to be changed at the last minute but thankfully residents and visitors were still able to appreciate what the town centre and traders had to offer, and enjoy festive music, lantern-making workshops, the lantern parade and the Christmas light switch-on.

Children were delighted to be invited to make beautiful Pick & Mix pattern lanterns in Mercread Youth Centre Hall with SCIP (Sussex Contemporary Illustrators & Printers) ahead of the magical Lantern Parade. The parade saw children proudly marching their lanterns through the town centre, joined by Mr Wonka himself! The parade finished with the children joining in the countdown with the Mayor of Seaford and Seaford Rotary Father Christmas to switch on the sparkling Christmas lights.

A variety of live music captivated the visitors in The Crouch at the performance stage hosted by Shannon Smith, with a mix of vocalists, musicians and other contemporary performances throughout the day. Seaford Town Football Club opened their bar to the public and supported the festivities with some warming mulled wine.

The Highland Joker Bubble Extraordinaire was busy with lots of fascinated children enjoying the bubble shows throughout the day.

Families were encouraged round the town as part of the Golden Ticket Trail. 13 independent shops took part by displaying a Golden Ticket and a letter in their window display to combine together to make a word. Once the trail had been completed, Scoop & Weigh handed out a surprise gift in exchange for the golden word!

If the above wasn’t enough, Party Emporium joined in with its Santa’s Grotto (which is being hosted in weekends throughout December – booking required), welcoming a number of stalls to trade inside the shop, away from the elements, and helping organise the Golden Ticket Trail. The day was topped off nicely with a screening of family-favourite, Arthur Christmas, at Seaford Barn Theatre. In addition to the Christmas Magic event itself, Seaford Town Council and Seaford Chamber of Commerce hosted the annual window display competition for all shops in Seaford town. This year the competition was judged by the Chamber of Commerce’s President, Claire Davis, and the Mayor of Seaford, Councillor Rodney Reed. First prize was won by ‘Foam & Fabrics’ on Broad Street and the two runners up were Ambers Florist and INLE Home. A huge thank you is extended to all who have taken part and helped inject some jolliness into the town centre.

On behalf of the town, the Town Council wishes to thank all those who came and made Christmas Magic so festive, and to all the visitors who visited those stallholders that were able to relocate at the eleventh hour to Life Church in Steyne Road. Due to last minute forecasts of high gusts throughout the day, it was deemed to be unsafe to use stalls outdoors and the decision was made to seek an indoor setting for those stallholders that were able to do so.

Special thanks go to the volunteers of the Seaford Christmas Magic Committee, Sussex Events, Shannon Smith for hosting the live entertainment stage, Seaford Bonfire Society for marshalling, SCIP for lantern making, Party Emporium for hosting a grotto, rehousing some children’s entertainment stalls and organising the Golden Ticket Trail with Scoop & Weigh, Seaford Rotary for Santa and his Sleigh, and the Mayor of Seaford and Santa for the Christmas lights switch-on, Life Church for hosting the stallholders, Seaford Town Council staff and all the stallholders who made the day possible.

Cllr. Rodney Reed, Mayor of Seaford praised everyone involved for holding Christmas Magic this year despite the forecast inclement weather and the last-minute relocations it made necessary. ‘The sight of many children walking up Broad Street with the lanterns they had just made, and the noise the children made during the ‘countdown’ and ‘switch-on’ will stay with me as happy memories for a long time.’

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